The Way to Dawn
by harajukuluv3r
Summary: At seventeen, Riku has no memories of his childhood. He tries desperately to find out who is and where he came from. Little does he know this emotional journey will take place in a world other than his own.
1. Prologue: Home

**Yay my first fanfic!**

**I really hope I have the patience to finish this. I've hade this story in my head for a long time. I really thought that opening an account would be easy but _NOOOOOOOOOOOOO_! The creators of this website just had to make it difficult didn't they? It took me four days just to actually start typing thing! Oh well. **

**A few notes before the story starts:**

**1) The story would probably make the most sense to you if you've gotten to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. If you haven't I recommend you either play up to that game or watch the videos on youtube to keep up with who the characters are. **

**2) Most but not all of the Final Fantasy characters appear in the story because It would be too difficult for me to keep up with all of them in addition to the Kingdom Hearts Characters. **

**3) Organization XIII does not include Axel, Larxene, Demyx, Zexion, Roxas, or Xion. They're good guys in this story. :) Instead they are replaced with other bad guys.**

**4) Axel and Lea, along with Zexion and Ienzo and Saix and Isa are_ SIX COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. _I just want to make sure people aren't confused.**

**5) Finally, there will be A LOT of flashbacks. Just warning you.**

**I do not own the Kingdom Hearts Series.**

**Okay Here We Go!**

_**Hearts in Twilight**_

_**Prologue: Home**_

Twilight Town. A town in perpetual twilight. A paradise village which one could only come up with in a dream. Built on a hill, the golden town's streets were slanted down with shops running along each one of them. A single car tram ran through the town's main shopping square available to anyone for a ride. On the far side of the shopping square, an opening to an underground series of tunnels stood unattended. Those tunnels lead to different areas around the village.

In another area of town an open sandlot stood for any child's enjoyment. It was also where Struggle Fighting Tournaments tooks place in the fall. Struggle was a fighting competition in which adolescents and adults fought each other with plastic blue bats. The competitors would wear a vest with orbs attached to it and if you could hit your opponents orbs off before they could get yours you would win. Many men, women and children would come watch these tournaments with their families as a way for entertainment.

At the highest point of the town was the Central Train Station. The Station itself was actually a large clock tower with two bells hanging from its sides. Many people would go the top of the tower, sit on the edge of it and enjoy the sunset or beautiful view of the town. Most prefered the actual view from the clock tower than the station itself, which just contained a small one car train. This train lead to the most quiet area of town, Sunset Terrace.

The Terrace was just an area with a few small houses and another tunnel leading underground. A bridge went over a small river-like waterfall. A random alley was at the edge of the Terrace, with a white ball at the far end of it. Another tram ran back and forth between where the alley was and where the arch entrance of a small hill began.

Sunset Hill had a dirt path which lead up to an open space at its top. Only a few items were on the hill with the bright green bushes that outskirted it. Some trash cans, a miniature statue version of the clocktower, and a bench.

On this particular day, Christmas Eve, a little girl with pale shoulder length blond hair in a simple white dress sat on this bench. She had a sketchpad rested on her lap and a yellow crayon in her hand. She was making her finishing touches of her drawing of the sun when another girl called out to her.

"Namine'!"

The six year old girl turned around smiling, revealing her deep blue eyes to her friend. "Kairi what is it?"

The girl called Kairi had short cranberry colored hair which barely touched her shoulders. Her indigo eyes matched perfectly with her dress, which was white with purple flowers around the bottom of it. The girl standing next to her had eye's which were identical to Namine's, but had short black hair that matched the oversized hoody sweater which she also wore as a dress. And while Kairi wore purple crocs, this girl wore basic black converse. This was Xion, Namine's cousin.

"Namine hurry!"

"Your gonna miss the ghost train!"

Namine' closed her sketchpad, put her crayon in the spiral binding, stood up and ran enthusiastically with her best friend and relative to the other side of the hill, where four boys were impatiently waiting for them.

Two of the four six year old boys looked completely alike with short blond spikes for hair and blue eyes. They had the same smile, but two different attitudes. One boy was more relaxed while the other was much more jumpy and energetic. The quiet boy wore a basic yellow shirt, brown shorts and sandles while his twin wore the same thing but with a green shirt. These two boys were known as Roxas and Ventus.

The other two were Sora and Vanitas, their older brothers. They both had longer spikier hair than Roxas and Ventus but were different colors. Sora's hair was a chocolate brown while Vanitas' was a faded black. Like his other brothers Sora had blue eyes while Vanitas had striking yellow ones. They both wore red shorts and sandles, but different colored shirts, Sora white and Vanitas black.

In a nutshell, the four boys were known as the Hikari Quadruplets.

"About time you girls got back," Vanitas commented rudely, "you took forvever to get Namine'."

"We were only gone a few seconds! Why are you so mean?" Kairi shot back.

"That's Van for you," Roxas replied, lying on the ground facing the train track far below them, "impatient."

"I am not impatient!"

"Yes you are."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Stop it!" Xion interrupted, stomping her foot. "Stop fighting! You know I don't like when people fight!" She began sniffling.

Namine and Kairi immediately hugged their beloved cousin/best friend, while Ventus stood up in anger. "See what you guys did? You made Xion cry! How could you?"

Van rubbed the back of his head feeling guilty while Roxas joined in the hug."...Sorry" they both mumbled.

Sora, however was busy looking at the tracks below him with wide eyes. A purple train with what appeared to be no one aboard came toward them, going underneath the tunnel in which the hill was on.

"Guys look!" Sora shouted.

The commotion with the other six children immediately stopped once they saw the train go by.

"No way!"

"It's real!"

"Awesome!"

"And there's really no one on it!"

"Come on let's go to the station!"

All seven kids ran as fast as they could to the train station where they knew the train would have to stop. The sole reason they went to Sunset Terrace was to explore the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town, rumors of supernatural occurances around the city. The children thought it was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve with one another. They had already examined five of the wonders, which turned out to be fake, and had just finish with the sixth one, the Ghost Train Mystery.

Once they reached the station, the children slowly walked up to the train.

"I dare you to touch it" Van told Ven. With a deep breath Ventus walked to the ghost trains door. When his hand was about an inch away from it the door slid open, revealing a man and a young teenage girl. Surprised, Ven jumped back falling on his behind. The teenage girl couldn't help but laugh, while the man simply gave a smile.

"Daddy! Stella!" Namine' jumped with joy. She glomped her father and older sister in a hug. Daddy, better known as Ansem the Wise, was an intelligent man who always wore his white lab coat. His beard and hair were platinum blond and he had large orange eyes. Stella, at thirteen years of age, looked liked an older version of Namine' but with brighter blue eyes and longer hair.

"What you doing here Master Ansem? And why are you on the ghost train?" Kairi questioned.

Ansem and Stella were taken aback. "Ghost train?"

"Yeah Uncle Ansem!" Xion replied, "This is the ghost train!"

"Sorry Xion but this is just the town's new train. There's no such thing as a ghost train" Stella told them, but regretted it when she saw the children's expressions change from excited to sad.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaawe" they all said in unison. They 'awed' again once Ansem told them it was time to go home.

"But we still have to do the last wonder!" Sora begged him.

"I'm sorry Sora but it's getting late and your parents will be worried. You may explore the last wonder another day." At that the children 'awed' for the third time, stepped on the train and headed for home.

XXX

After taking the quadruplets home, the four family members rode the 'Fake Ghost Train' -as Xion called it- home to their Mysterious Tower. The crooked tower was located on the outskirts of Twilight Town on a landmass floating in the sky. The train had to take a magical road to reach it and once Ansem, his daughters and niece got off the train, it magically disappeared.

"Woooooooooooooah," the two six year olds said in amazement. "It's not a ghost train its a magical train! Way cooler than the other one!" Xion shouted enthusiastically. After the children were done fawning over the new train, they headed inside the tower.

XXX

"Ha! Taste the might of my Rock Breaker!"

"Your Rock Breaker has just been destroyed by my magical move Spell Weaver!"

"Oh yeah? Well my Earthshaker has totally overcome your magic!"

"My Rainfell's magic can never run out!"

In the tower's throne room, an eight year old girl with blue hair and a nine year old boy with shoulder length brown spikey hair were fighting with wooden swords. They were pretending to be Keyblade warriors, which they each hoped to be one day. The boy's name was Terra, Xion's older brother and the girl he was fighting with was his friend since kindergarten Aqua.

"I win!" Terra shouted once Aqua fell on the floor.

"No you don't! Just because I fell doesn't mean the fight is over!"

"Alright, that's enough." Terra turned around to see his father, Master Eraqus, walking towards him and his friend from the middle of the three thrones in the room. Eraqus wore his greying black hair in a ponytail and a traditional grey samuri's outfit. His stern brown eyes held much wisdom which he often passed on to his children. "Aqua is right Terra. Just because one is on the ground does not mean they don't have the upper hand."

"How?" Terra questioned.

"I'll explain it to you in your next training session. But right now, it's time for Aqua to go home." At that moment, he summoned what appeared to be a giant key, aimed it at the wall, and shot a beam of magic from it. This created a portal for Aqua to take home.

"Thank you master! Bye Terra, see you at the Christmas party tomorrow!"

"Bye."

Once Aqua left, Terra turned to his father and humbly asked, "Dad, when are we actually going to get our Keyblades? I wanna become a master like you."

"Patience Terra. You, your friends, and sister will be able to wield their keyblade when the time is right."

A Keyblade was mysterious key shaped sword with many magical abilites. Only those with tremendously strong hearts could wield it and about a third of those who lived in Twilight Town did so. Twilight Town was the home to all the Keyblade wielders in the universe. Anyone who had this weapon was free to travel throughout the worlds without the use of a ship. One could transform their keyblade into a form of transportation such as a bike or glider. What a keyblade looked like depended on the wielder's personality. A wielder also had the ability to sense darkness, unless the darkness was in an unreal environment, such as a virtual world.

In order to become a Keyblade Master one needed to take the Mark of Mastery Examination. This test included how well one could defeat another in combat and a display of expertise in magic. If they didn't pass they would retake the exam until they succeeded.

Master Eraqus and his brother Ansem were in charge of training potential Keyblade Masters while their father, the great wizard Master Yensid, ruled over Twilight Town. This made them and their kids the royal family. Currently, Yensid was preparing for annual Christmas festival tomorrow.

"WE'RE HOME!"

Eraqus' speech to Terra was interrupted at the sound of his daughter's greeting. He scooped up Xion in his arms when she ran to him, giving her a comforting welcome home. Ansem carried in Namine', who was asleep in his arms, while Stella walked in behind him.

"Hi Uncle Eraqus, Terra. How was training with Aqua?" Stella asked.

"Ok I guess. I just wanna use the Keyblade already! I know I have to be patient but I'm tired of waiting!" Terra complained.

"Enough Terra!" Eraqus scolded, "There will be no more childish behavior!"

"Calm down uncle! He _is_ a child after all," Stella interrupted. "Besides Terra _knows_ he has to be good before Santa shows up."

"I'm not stupid Stella. I know there's no such thing as-"

"SHHHHHHHH!" His cousin stopped him before he could break little Xion's heart.

Ansem couldn't surpress his laughter any longer. Seeing the commotion before him made him appreciate his family even more than he already had. This puzzled everyone, especially Stella. "What's so funny daddy?"

"Nothing at all my dear. Now children it's time for bed. We have quite the day tomorrow."

"But I don't wanna go to sleep! I'm not...tired." Xion yawned.

"Yes you are. Time for bed. We all have to up early in the morning." Eraqus and everyone else began heading to their bedrooms, retiring for the day. Christmas Day would be exciting and energy sapping so everyone had to have their rest.

Unfortunately, they couldn't be more wrong.

XXX

Xehanort didn't like his brother. No, that was an understatement. He _hated_ him with a passion. Ever since childhood, his parents favored Yensid due to his superior skills in magic. He would be scolded while Yensid got constant praise. He had everything Xehanort didn't: friends, unbelievable power, popularity with the town, etc...

When their parents died, Yensid was given leadership of Twilight Town which Xehanort felt he didn't deserve. Yensid ruled his people with great kindness, while Xehanort felt a complete totalitarianship was needed. And after the birth of his first grandchild, Stella, Yensid ordered his brother to leave the tower since he wanted more room for his new family members. This was the final straw.

Xehanort moved to an abandoned mansion in the forest far away from Twilight Town. While there he and his sons, Xemnas, Sephiroth, and the youngest whom he also called Ansem, plotted revenge. Xehanort showed them and his seven apprentices the ways of darkness and taught them how to control it. He trained them in a Digital Twilight Town where he knew no other Keyblade Master could sense their dark powers growing. He had help from a friend, a sorceress whom he met in his youth named Maleficent, and together they created an ifinity of power creatures. They called them Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. And after thirteen years of controling these dark powers and creatures, they were finally ready to strike.

At the Christmas Day Festival.

XXX

The Festival was in one word wonderful. Blue and silver streamers connected from building to building covering the town. Game booths stood throughout the shopping square for kids enjoyment. The tram was decorated like a sleigh, being conducted by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Red and green Christmas decorations were on every house making the town look like it was on the North Pole. Twilight Town's Market Street was covered with fake snow (since it never snowed there) allowing people to sled down it. The Sandlot was turned into an ice skating rink with a large twelve foot candy cane colored pole in the center. A children's choir was singing the Twelve Days of Christmas in front of the synthesis shop. People were giving each other presents like there was no tomorrow. And in front of the Central Station, a fifty foot tall golden Christmas tree with a crystal moogle on top of it stood basking in beauty.

Everyone was happy.

Except one person.

Xehanort, his sons, Maleficent and his apprentices were watching the festival from the top of the clocktower. All of them, except for the sorceress and Sephiroth, were hooded in long black coats. The jolliness, laughter and light hearted atmosphere were making them sick. They wanted to end this, once and for all.

"Ha! Those chumps have no idea what's comin' to 'em!" One of the apprentices laughed.

"Patience Xigbar," Xehanort responded, "Do not be excited just yet." At that moment he rose his hand and a bolt of purple lightning struck the sky. Thick grey clouds began to rapidly cover Twilight Town, startling all of its citizens, except children, who thought it was going to snow.

Yensid immediately sensed the great dark presence over the village and told his sons to warn everyone of the danger. But not even the best Keyblade Masters of Twilight Town were ready for what happened next.

Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed began popping up everywhere, destroying whatever came in their path. They attacked helpless citizens with their frightening powers while Keyblade warriors did they're best to protect them. Maleficent began setting fire to homes and shops. Xehanort's oldest apprentice, Lexeaus used his giant tomahawk to create earthquakes in the sandlot. Xaldin made a windstorm so strong it blew away the town's trains. Xemnas and his brother, who named himself Ansem: The Seeker of Darkness, destroyed the Mysterious Tower with their magic while Sephiroth worked with Xigbar to ensure harm to the people. While all this was happening, Xehanort stood at the very top of the clocktower with a sadistic smile on his face.

Eraqus and Ansem the Wise gathered as many people as they could to go to the underground tunnels for their safety. A hidden passage in the tunnels lead to Twilight Town's escape ship, Falcon Peak. Fewer than half the town's population made it on.

Yensid was conjuring up powerful spells to stop the disasters. He managed to stop the windstorm and earthquake, but the monsters he killed would just reappear. He saved as many people as he could and got them to the ship. Xehanort and his group disappeared, knowing Yensid was searching for them and hid in the Digital Twilight Town. With nothing he or the other Keyblade wielders could do to save the town, Yensid ordered a retreat.

Hundreds of men women and children lost their lives. With each death Twilight Town became darker and darker. Soon the buildings began to turn large, abandoned and black. Sunset Hill transformed into what Xehanort would later call the Brink of Despair which was gloomy dead end of a street that reached a cliff. The beautifully illuminated Market Street was now the bleak Fragments Crossing. Central Station's clocktower grew in height becoming the tall black Memory Skyscraper, which had multiple television screens on top of it. As the rest of the town became a denizen of darkness, the Falcon Peak rescue ship took off for an unknown destination, taking the surviving citizens of Twilight Town with it.

Xehanort, once again standing on what was once the clocktower began laughing maniacly. He had finally achieved his dream: becoming the stronger brother and ruler of Twilight Town. No. He always hated that name. He was now ruler of the World That Never Was.


	2. Riku

Hola Kingdom Hearts Fans!

I know the prologue was kinda boring but I felt it was a cute way to introduce some of the characters. But I promise it will get better. Also, I think I should come up with a better title. 'Hearts in Twilight' sounds kinda cliche' to me now.

Anyway...enjoy!

Chapter 1: Riku

About 10 years later...

Destiny Islands had everything: a beautiful white beach, bright green palm trees, a water fall; things that would normally be on vacation brochure. The crisp blue water was so clean you could see the ocean floor as deep as thirty feet below it. The main island where people lived was huge compared to its sister, the playing island. Kids and adolescents would always go to this island when school got out for a day of fun in the sun **(OMG I hope I never I have to use that phrase again!)**

An even smaller island was accessable from the playing island via bridge **( I know I'm using the word_ island _a lot, SORRY!) **This had a bent over white tree which had yellow starshaped fruit growing from it. And in front of it were small palm trees.

The islands were complete paradise.

And Riku absolutely hated it.

Everything. The sand. The trees. The water. Everything.

Well...it wasn't that he hated it. He just never felt at home there. He didn't even know if he was actually born on the islands. When Riku was seven, he was striken with amnesia and to this day hasn't been able to remember anything from his childhood. His foster parents found him washed up on the main beach and adopted him when they couldn't find his biological parents. They genuinely loved Riku, but as the years went by they became more and more focused on their jobs, neglecting him. To make things worse, Riku didn't have any friends; he wasn't really interested in other kids. Besides he felt as if he had friends waiting for him somewhere...

Riku sat on the tree with the star shaped fruit, feeling exhausted. His day couldn't have been worse. First he woke up late making himself late for school. His first period teacher scolded him in front of the entire class and gave him detention. During passing period a guy splashed a red smoothie in his face (as if they were in Glee) so he had to miss another one of his classes to clean himself up. At lunch he realized he left his money at home so he had to starve. After lunch the same guy who slushied him did it again but with a blue smoothie. And when Riku beat the crap out of the guy he got a week's suspension.

"Son of a bitch" Riku mumbled to himself when he looked at the purple stains on his school uniform. They would never come out. After examining the stains, Riku looked out at the ocean as if looking for some sort of answer to his problems. He could only sigh.

"Someday I'm gonna get out of this hell hole" he said after a few minutes of thinking. Thinking of how to escape. From his uncaring parents, the assholes at Destiny High, from loneliness...just everything.

Unknown to Riku, a sixteen year old girl with short raven hair was spying on him from behind one of the palm trees. She could only stare at Riku and cry tears of joy. "It's really him" Xion whispered, "It's really him."

**XXX**

"I'm home!" Riku shouted when he entered his small house. He wasn't surprised when he didn't hear an answer. Mom and Dad were probably too into their work. He walked into the kitchen and immediately noticed a note on the wooden table.

**_Riku,_**

**Mom and I are working late. There are frozen dinners in the freezer.**

**Dad**

_Of course_, he thought, _They're never home when I actually need to talk to them. They probably wouldn't listen anyway._

Riku knew the only time his foster parents actually listened to him was when he told them bad news. _Only_ bad news. He wished someone was there to listen to his problems. When he tried talking to his parents it was the usual "Uh huh".

To cheer himself up Riku turned on the radio. The first thing that started playing was "Friday" by Rebecca Black. Oh hell no. He immediately turned it off. Now he was in a _really _bad mood. He then walked over to the living room, sat on the couch and turned the TV on. The music video for "Baby" by Justin Bieber was playing. Fuck no. He turned the TV off. Now he was in an _EXTREMELY _bad mood. Riku finally screamed in anger:

"HOW CAN THIS DAY BE SO FUCKING BAD!"

He knew he wanted to punch something, or _someone._ He couldn't take it anymore. Riku straight up hated his life on the islands. He tried for years to enjoy the place but wasn't able to. The other kids just called him a freak. He begged his parents for attention but they just pushed him aside like he didn't matter. He just couldn't take it anymore; Riku finally reached his boiling point.

He began punching the couch to get out his frustration but it didn't help. He looked at the television. _Mom would be furious._ But he didn't care. Since he didn't want a bloody hand he instead picked up the remote control and threw it the screen. The shattered screen and smoke coming from the television wasn't enough for him. He grabbed the sissors from the kitchen drawer and began ripping up the furniture with it. Cotton was everywhere when he finished. Riku then ran to the kitchen and began pulling plates out of the cabinets. He threw them on the ground groups at a time and when he was done with that he flipped over the table. Watching from one of the windows was Xion, who couldn't help but baul at the pain of her childhood friend.

...

When Riku finally finished letting out his frustration, the house looked as if bandits were through it. Mirrors were shattered, clothes ripped apart, condiments were squirted on the walls. The bathroom curtain was pulled down while the curtains in the living room were cut up. In his parents room, the matress was pulled out of the bed frame, holes were in the walls where Riku _actually _punched and the wedding picture was on the floor, frame broken.

The only place untouched was Riku's room. There he sat on his bed, crying his eyes out. He was finally letting his pain out. Not only was he miserable with his home but with not knowing where he came from or who he was. Well he wouldn't be in Destiny Islands much longer.

Riku pulled out a yellow suitcase from under his bed and began packing. He miraculously got all of his clothes in it, a wooden sword, and his favorite book, _The Legends of the Keyblade Masters_. He changed out of his dirty school clothes and put on his favorite outfit: jeans, yellow sneakers, and a black shirt with a bright yellow vest over it. He burned his school clothes in the fire place since he was never going back. When he began walking to the front door he noticed something on the counter he missed before. It was a picture of him and his parents, when they first adopted him. The three of them were all smiling in the picture.

_Bullshit._ Riku picked up the picture and threw it on the ground, shattering the glass frame. He reached in the kitchen drawer for a sticky note and pen. Then he began writing his final goodbye:

**_Dear Mom and Dad..._**

He immediately crossed out those words.

**_Dear Inai and Koto,_**

**Thanks for making my life a live in hell. And I hope you burn there.**

**Riku**

With that, Riku stuck the note to the wall, grabed his suitcase and walked out the door without looking back.


	3. Out

Bonjour! (I'm gonna greet in a different language every chapter)

So right now I have no internet at home, so the only place I can publish this is at school since wifi is free. So it will take me even longer to write. I will try to update at least once every two weeks since I have both work and school.

Once again, Enjoy

Chapter 2: Out

Riku waited at the Gummi Ship Station for what felt like hours. Surprisingly he was the only one there, which was weird since Thanksgiving was in a few days. He looked at the schedule; the next ship would arrive at 7:30. _Good,_ Riku thought, _I don't have to wait much longer._

To pass the time Riku began reading _The Legends of the Keyblade Masters_. He had read the book a million times already but he didn't care. He loved it that much. Riku wished that his life was exciting like the stories in the book; keyblade wielders fighting the darkness, saving innocent lives, magical abilities, etc...

**Ladies and Gentlemen the next ship will be arriving in exactly five minutes!**

Riku ignored the woman on the intercom and kept reading. He was about to reach his favorite part when he was startled by an unknown scent.

When Riku was ten he gained the ability to distinguish people by scent. His parents and peers were in a short way to say it, _seriously freaked out. _He didn't know how he got the power, he just one day woke up with it. And what he smelled right now didn't even seem like it was from this world.

Riku stood up and turned around. As he did so he could hear the sounds of someone running. _Crap, someone's following me._

"Show yourself! I know your there!"

Silence.

"Come Out!"

Silence.

"Don't try to fool me! I can smell you!" Riku facepalmed when he realized how bad that sounded. Chuckling came from behind one of the pillars gaining his attention. Riku pulled out his wooden sword from his suitcase and took a fighting stance. "Come out NOW!"

Giving in, Xion walked out from behind pillar and began walking toward Riku.

"Don't move. Tell me who you are and why you've been following me." Riku couldn't help but notice she had the prettiest blue eyes he had ever seen, but shook it off and regained his seriousness. Xion smiled and pull him into a hug. _Wha-What is she doing?_

"R-Riku...I can explain" she said. _Is she crying?_ Riku pushed her away and looked at her beautiful face. (Wait, did he just say beautiful? He looked at her face.) Tears were streaming down it. "I finally found you!"

He was completely dumbfounded. Her attitude was making him even more frustrated. "Who the hell are you and how do you know my name? And why have you been stalking me?"

"Riku I'll explain everything, but...I'm gonna need you to come with me."

Before Riku could protest the ship finally arrived. When it finally landed the door slid open.

All aboard for Traverse Town!

"Well," Riku said, "I would love to go with you girl-who's-been-stalking-me, but I have to get out of here."

As he walked aboard, Xion followed him. "Riku wait it's important!"

"Stop following me!"

"But I know who you really are!"

Riku froze. The two of them were already on the ship by the time he stopped. The door closed and the ships engine began to start. "You're lying."

"No I'm not. Just come with me and I'll explain everything."

"How do I know I can trust you? You haven't even told me your name!"

"It's Xion."

"Well _Xion_" Riku said dryly, "I was taught at an early age to never talk to strangers, so please just leave me alone."

"Riku please" Xion pleaded, "just trust trust me."

Riku stared at her hand which she had put out for him to grab. By now the ship had already taken off and was traveling through the Lanes-In-Between. He had a choice: go with this strange girl to who knows where or go through this journey on his own. Xion smiled to asure him she was safe to be with and not some freak. Unfortunately, Riku wasn't buying it.

"Sorry, not interested."

"B-But-"

"Hello princess."

Riku and Xion flinched at the unknown voice. Standing on the other side of the ship was a man with long pink hair in a long black coat. He held a feminine looking scythe in his hand and in front of him were two skinny looking white creatures which looked like they were dancing.

"Marluxia!" Xion gasped, "how did-"

"So naive. It's a shame you've grown up to be a beautiful young lady. I would hate to end the life of a master in training."

"What's going on?" Riku asked. "Who's he?"

"Stay back Riku!" At that moment, in a flash of light Xion summoned what appeared to be-

"A keyblade? But those aren't supposed be real!" Riku said astonished.

"Oh! And you have a friend to join you in defeat! You were a fool to leave your castle alone dear princess!" Marluxia teased. "Destroy them!"

The white creatures jumped toward the teenagers. Xion easily slashed them with her Keyblade, which she called Oathkeeper. Marluxia scowled and summoned more monsters for her to defeat, she easily defeated all of them. Riku was watching the scene from behind his seat, awestruck at Xion's fighting skills. She looked liked a ninja, jumping and flippng like crazy, destroying creature after creature. This made Marluxia furious.

"This is absurd! If my Nobodies can't destroy you I will do it myself!"

Marluxia swung his scythe sending a strong gust of wind towards Xion. She deflected the majority of the wind with her keyblade but was eventually slammed against the wall by it. As she fell Marluxia grabbed her by the neck and picked her up.

"No!" Marluxia turned his head to see Riku holding his wooden sword. He laugh hysterically. "Do you really think a measily wooden sword will stop me?" Riku charged at Marluxia but he just pushed him away. When he finished laughing he went on choking Xion. Even with her Oathkeeper she wasn't able to escape his grasp.

Riku stood traumatized behind Marluxia helpless to stop him. He tried several times before to make him let go of her but he was too strong. He just met Xion but he wasn't going to let her die.

Suddenly, Riku felt a tingle in his left hand. Light began to envelope the wooden sword transforming it. When the light disappeared the sword was replaced with a keyblade. Not even taking time to examine it, Riku once again charged at Marluxia.

"Poor little princess" the pink haired man wispered to Xion. She could feel herself going lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. _I'm not gonna make it..._

"Too bad your father isn't here to see such a magnificent siAAAAAAHH!"

Marluxia collapsed to the ground once Riku stabbed him. When he released Xion she gasped for air and clung to Riku. Riku held Xion in his arms protecting her while Marluxia slowly faded into darkness.

"He's gone" Riku sighed.

"No he's not" Xion corrected. "He'll be back."

Realizing the position they were in they immediately backed away from each other. "So Xion, are... you ok?"

"Y-Yeah I'm fine. Thank you. Thank you so much Riku."

"Your welcome" _She really does have a beautiful smile..._

Riku smiled back at Xion. He suddenly felt as if he'd known her for years. He had never been more comfortable around anyone. But then the reality of that moment hit him.

"Wait a minute, why is there no one else on this ship? And where's the pilot?"

"The whole thing was a trap. Marluxia made it so we were alone. The ship was on auto pilot the entire time. Even now. I just can't believe we fell for it."

Riku forgot the gummi ship was still motion. He knew that they passed Traverse Town a while back and that they were just headed straight to nowhere.

"So Riku" Xion said interrupting his thoughts, "do you want me to take you back to Destiny Islands? I can fly a ship."

"No!" Despite what had just happened Riku refused to go back to that miserable island. "Actually, I would like to go with you to...whereever it was you're going."

She became excited, "Really thats great! You'll be with us again!" Xion hugged him, "and besides its safe in Radiant Garden. No one will harm us there. Well...except my dad when he finds out I left."

"What?"

"Don't worry I'll explain everything later. Now lets go before we're attacked again. " Xion began walking to the cockpit, until Riku stopped her.

"Xion one more thing" she turned around to face him,"if you ever get in a situation where a man is holding you like that, just kick him in the balls."


	4. Confrontation

**Aloha!**

**First before I start this I would like to thank Infatuation-x for giving me my first review. I really appreciate it. And I know the story is kinda confusing right now but I promise it will all eventually make sense. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.**

**Another thing, I honestly didn't mean to have the "Up" reference in the last chapter. I wasn't even thinking of the movie when I typed the "I can smell you" line. :)**

_**Chapter 3: Confrontation**_

As Xion piloted the ship, Riku bombarded her with questions.

"How do you know who I am?"

"You're really a princess?"

"Who was that guy?"

"How do you wield the keyblade?"

"How do _I_ wield the keyblade?"

"Where are we going?"

"How do you know who I am?"

"You already asked that" Xion said annoyed. Although she couldn't blame him as to why he was frustrated. So much had happened in the past hour. "Riku I promise that when we get to Radiant Garden everything will be explained."

"Why can't you answer my questions now?" Riku crossed his arms.

"Because-"

"Well?"

"J-Just...because."

Riku groaned at her lack of an answer. Xion could only laugh.

"How is you not telling me anything funny?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, it's just...you haven't changed."

Riku groaned again. She was confusing the hell out of him. Before he could say anything else, a bright light began to envelope the ship and the Lanes-In-Between began to disappear.

Riku stood up, "Wha...what's going on?"

Xion only smiled, "We're here."

Once the bright light faded, Riku looked at the ship's surroundings. He was made speechless.

An ocean reflected off the cloudless lavender skies. Small green mountains were spread throughout the water, adding even more color to the world below the two teens. But what got Riku's attention wasn't the water or mountains, but the town. Surrounded by a large wall, the town had a million fountains, all which poured crisp glistening water. There were little stone houses with red roofs everywhere and an open town square with orange flowers surrounding it. And in the center of the world was a large purple castle.

"Welcome to Radiant Garden Riku."

XXX

Xion landed the ship in front of the town gate. When the door slid open, Riku was hesitant to get off. He couldn't believe it. He was actually in another world.

"Come on Riku!"

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice Xion was already outside. When Riku finally stepped off he was met with some of the freshest air he ever felt. "Wow...this place is...beautiful." Then he came up with another question "Why didn't we land in the town's square?"

"Because of the shield." Xion responded. "There's a magical shield protecting the town. The only way you can get in is through this gate."

As Xion was about to summon her keyblade to unlock it, the gate automatically opened, startling the both of them.

"How did it do that?" Riku asked.

Xion panicked, "I don't know! The only way it could have opened is if someone else-"

"Ahem."

About ten feet behind the gate a man with long spikey brown hair stood with a bronze keyblade in his hand. He was pretty muscular and looked to be a couple of years older than Riku. What scared Xion though, was the furious look the man had on his face.

"Um Xion, who's that?

"My brother, Terra."

XXX

Terra escorted both Riku and Xion to the castle. Not a word was said, which to Riku meant she was in serious trouble. When they finally got to the castle's throne room, Xion began having a panic attack. Riku did his best to calm her down by giving her a hug, which slightly worked. Finally the big moment came.

Riku and Xion walked to the men on the three thrones. As Riku expected, they were just as angry as Terra. The said man walked over two the side of the room where two girls with blond hair and blue eyes stood frightened. After about a minute of silence in the room, Eraqus finally stood up.

"Xion! What in the name of light were you thinking?"

"Daddy, I'm so sorry! But I had to find him!" she said eyeing Riku. "I wanted to see Riku so bad! I'm really sorry!"

"Riku?" Eraqus questioned. "That's what this was about? You left to find your missing friend?"

"Yes!" She began to cry. "I...I stole one of grampa's location spells to find him. I had to see him again! I'M SO SORRY!"

Ansem was about to speak, but Terra beat him to it.

"Xion we know about Marluxia's attack! Grampa sensed it! What the hell were you thinking, you could have been killed!"

"I know but Riku saved me!" She smiled at him.

"And what if he wasn't there to save you?" Ansem finally said. "Xion you do not understand the error of your ways!"

"I do uncle I really do! And I accept whatever punishment you have for me."

"Enough!"

Master Yensid stood from his throne and walked to his tearful granddaughter. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "Xion, I cannot be angry at you for following your heart. But at the same time what you did was foolish and dangerous. And as for you-" he turned to Riku "You are indeed Kora's son."

"Who's Kora?" Riku said, even more confused than he already was.

"He has amnesia grampa." Xion assured him. This surprised Yensid for a moment but he immediately regained his serious composure.

"Now Xion, your punishment. You are to clean the entire castle from bottom to top. The place is to be spotless."

"It's only fair that I help her" Riku interrupted. "It's kind of my fault she's in this mess." Yensid smiled at Riku's kindness "Very well. And Riku since it is far too dangerous to take you anywhere else you will be living in Radiant Garden from now on."

"Sure, I'll stay anywhere, as long as its not Destiny Islands. And while I'm here maybe I'll get some answers."

"Fair enough. Xion escort Riku to the guest room. Get your rest and tomorrow you will begin your chores."

"Okay", the teens both responded. The two of them proceded to walk to the guest room with Riku's things. The remaining six people in the room were both surprised and relieved.

"Riku looks exactly like he did when he was seven" Stella smiled. Her sister nodded in agreement.

"That was far too close" Ansem told his father and brother. "Xion should be relieved that Xehanort didn't send a stronger organization member."

"Daddy," Namine' finally spoke up, "Just be grateful that she's fine."

"Be grateful?" Terra interrupted, "She could have **_DIED_** Namine'!"

"I know but there's nothing that can be done now!" Terra flinched. Namine' never stood up to him unless the situation was serious. "We just have to move on. Xion's learned her lesson."

With that, everyone grudgingly ended the conversation, and left the room.


	5. Organization

Konichiwa! ( I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong :P)

No notes for this chapter!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Organization

"Incredulous! _Absolutely incredulous!"_

"He should have been aware of the cheater in that battle."

"I'll say! Who knew Mar-Mar could be such a wimp?"

In the floating castle above The World That Never Was, Organization XIII gathered in the white round throne room, Where Nothing Gathers. The eleven remaining members were furious over Marluxia's failed attempt at Xion's life. After apprentices Vexen, Luxord, and Xigbar commented on their ally's misfortune, the green skinned sorceress erupted.

"As the mistress of evil I should have assumed such an egotistical fool such as Marluxia could not accomplish such a simple task!"

"Hmph" Sephiroth sneered. "_You're_ one to talk about who's egotistical."

"HOW DARE YOU!" With that Maleficent shot a green lightning bolt from her scepter toward Sephiroth. He easily deflected it with a dark shield.

"ENOUGH!"

All heads turned to the highest throne in the room which seated the elderly Master Xehanort. At the sound of his voice all commotion in the room stopped. He looked as if he was about to give a speech, but was stopped when the sound of someone teleporting inside the room distracted him. Everyone looked to see a wounded Marluxia holding his side in pain. He stood beneath Xehanort's throne as if asking the Superior to heal him, which he did. Marluxia then proceeded to his throne aware of the death glares around him.

"Marluxia, you are a disgrace to the Organization!" Xehanort shouted down at him.

Marluxia turned around prepared to defend himself. "Superior, I have an explanation-"

"You were weak! Killing the princess should have been an easy victory!"

"There was another. He too wielded the keyblade."

"You think I don't know that? Ten years ago you slayed Keyblade Masters with a simple slash of your scythe, but now you can't even slay two inexperienced adolescents? You are letting you confidence get in the way of your mission. You're a shadow of what you once were." At this Marluxia clenched his fists. He wasn't going to let an old man tell him how insignificant he was. "Now Superior-"

"Marluxia you are extremely lucky that I am keeping you in Organization XIII. Now sit down and keep quiet."

A startled Marluxia reluctantly made his way to his thrown feeling humiliated. _When I rule this organization you will see just how powerful I am._

"Now then," Xehanort continued, "my fellow members, I have wonderful news for all of you."

"We're listening Superior" the youngest apprentice Saix said. Luxord and Xigbar snickered. Saix was always trying to kiss up to Xehanort.

"Although attempts to break down Radiant Garden's shields have been unsuccessful in the past, I believe with Vexen's latest creation we might have a chance finally destroying it."

"So we're finally gonna see all those wonderful Twilight Town faces again?" Xigbar questioned sarcastically. "Good. I've always wondered how those quads were doin'."

_Flashback_

_(Twilight Town, 10 years ago)_

_Knock, Knock!_

_Xigbar was standing in front of the door of his best friend's house looking at the Christmas decorations. The angels hanging from the windows made him wanna gag. "Geesh! Can you get any cheesier?"_

_Before he could examine the decorations any further the door opened revealing his good friend Orino Hikari. His eyes were light blue and he had light brown spiky hair. Orino smiled smiled at his eye-patched comrad and invited him in._

_"Xigbar! Where've you been? Aira and I haven't seen you in weeks!"_

_"Eh ya'know just been preparing for the big surprise tomorrow."_

_"You mean the Christmas festival?"_

_Xigbar laughed. "Let's just say this year festival will be different from the others."_

_"How so?"_

_"Can't tell ya. It won't be a surprise." Xigbar plopped on the living room sofa and planted his feet on the coffee table. "By the way where are the quads? I wanna see 'em."_

_Orino laughed at his friend's attitude, glad to see his friend alright after not hearing from him in so long. "They're in their room. They just got back after exploring the Seven Wonders with their friends. Hey boys!"_

_Vanitas, Sora, Roxas and Ventus immediate ran in the room, surprised at the arrival of their guest. "Hey Xigbar!" Three of them greeted._

_Ven however only scowled at the man. He never liked him, since he always thought Xigbar was really a pirate. Orino noticed this and scolded his son. "Hey Ven, show some respect for our guest. Remember what I told you."_

_Ven grudgingly walked up to Xigbar. "Hello..."_

_"Awe what's the matter kiddo? Still think I'm a pirate?"_

_"My name's not Kiddo!"_

_"Ven!" Orino shouted, "Go to your room!"_

_Ventus angrily stomped to his room leaving his brothers to marvel at what happened. Xigbar only stood up and stretched. "Well it was nice seeing everyone but I gotta go."_

_"But you've only been here five minutes!" Orino protested._

_"I know, I know but I have to get back to help Xe- decorating the town" Xigbar said, almost giving away their plan. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"_

_"Um bye," said a startled Orino. Once Xigbar was out the door he smirked. 'Oh yeah tomorrow's gonna be a great day Orino. Just wait...'_

_(End of Flashback)_

Vexen cleared his throat, "Lady and Gentlemen,I would like to present the Dream Eater." Out of nowhere, a pink creature that looked like a mixture of a cat and a bat appeared before everyone. Needless to say it looked like something a five year old girl would want as a pet. Xigbar and Luxord began laughing hysterically, Maleficent began a long rant of how rediculous the creature was, Xaldin and Lexeaus were cursing and everyone else was just screaming at Vexen.

"SILENCE!" shouted Xehanort. Everyone became quiet in a heartbeat. "If you would let Vexen finish..."

"Thank you Superior. Now, " It was Vexen's turn to have a speech," I know the Dream Eater's appearance is misleading, that was my intended goal. Yensid and the key bearers of light will endure much difficulty in defeating my latest creation. You see, this monster can not be destroyed with the keyblade."

This peaked everyone's interest, except Marluxia who just wanted the meeting to end so he could formulate his own plans.

"It can only be destroyed with magic that is beyond a master's skill, probably one with Maleficent's level of power."

"Perfect." The Superior sneered. " In one month, all of the Keyblade wielders in the realm of light will be destroyed. And we will be the supreme rulers of the worlds! There won't be a soul who will try to defeat us!" And with that Xehanort began his evil laugh, which Marluxia frowned at.

_Fool, once I rule the organization you'll regret laughing at such a rediculous plan._


	6. Truth

**Ni Hao! **

**Just to let you all know, Radiant Garden looks the way it does in BSB in this story. And I'll try to describe the inside of the castle as well as I can since I'm sure it looks somewhat different from the way it was in KHI.**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 5 : Truth**_

Xion led Riku to his guest room at the highest room in the castle. As they walked through, Riku was amazed by the architecture and the crisp purple water flowing from the moogle statues on the walls. Guards in different shades of armor stood at almost every arch way. The round Entrance Hall led to the Lift Stop, where levatating platforms could take you anywhere in the huge castle **(That I kept from KHI)**. The floors inside the halls of the castle were red carpeted and each room had beautifully colored stain glass windows.

Xion gave Riku a tour of almost the entire castle, so when they finally reached the door to the guest room he was exhausted.

"This is where you'll be staying for a while." When she opened the door, Riku was astonished. The room was round with bright lavender walls. It was completely empty, except for a bed, a cruved book case, and a desk with a lamp on it. It was three times the room he had on Destiny Islands.

"I'm sorry there isn't much" Xion said bringing Riku's suitcase in. "This is the first we've had to use it."

"That's okay, I'm just glad I have a place to sleep" Riku replied walking toward the door. This went unnoticed by the raven haired princess who was opening the window.

"Hey, when we're done cleaning the castle do you want to-"

_Click!_

Xion was startled by the sound of Riku locking the bedroom door, and looked at him as leaned his back against the door. His serious expression scared her.

"Alright, I'm here. Now talk."

"Riku what are yo-"

"Talk Xion! Tell me what's going on! You're not leaving until you do!"

She sighed defeated. Knowing Riku wasn't kidding she walked from the open window and sat down on the neatly made bed. "Sit down."

He did so and calmly asked her:

"How does everyone know who I am? And why am I here?"

Xion stared at her hands in her lap nervously. She didn't answer.

"How do I know I can trust you people?"

Xion sighed. This was not going to be easy for her.

"Riku, have you heard of a place called Twilight Town?"

"No, never." He looked at her and he could have sworn he saw her eyes water.

"Twilight Town was where everyone in this world used to live. It was our former home. My grandfather Yensid was the ruler of it so that made us the royal family. Ten years ago on Christmas, my great uncle Master Xehanort, his sons and apprentices destroyed Twilight Town."

"Woah woah woah, wait...they destroyed your town? Why?

"Xehanort was jealous of grampa's power. He wanted to rule Twilight Town but their parent's will wouldn't let him. They gave grampa everything when they died."

"Doesn't seem fair."

"It was because they knew of the darkness in Xehanort's heart. He would harm the people not help them. That's why when my cousin Stella was born grampa banished him. And that's what drove Xehanort to...to," Tears began flowing down her pink cheeks. Riku tried putting his arm around her but Xion just pushed it away, "He and his group, called Organization XIII, used the darkness to destroy everything. They hurt so many..."

Riku gulped. "W-Were people killed?"

She wiped more tears away. "Hundreds." She turned to face him, "The Keyblade wielders tried their best to fight off the monsters but it was useless. Most of them were slaughtered. Everyone in town who survived escaped by the town's rescue ship." By now she was bauling. "We traveled through the Lanes-In-Between for days until we found this uninhabited world. After two years of building this place we finally had a new home. We wanted this place to be more beautiful than Twilight Town so we could feel happy here. We increased security and grampa put a strong magical shield around Radiant Garden so no one evil could get in. " She finally calmed down. "The only way someone good can get out is if they use a teleportation spell or the world gate."

Riku suddenly felt guilty. No wonder she didn't want to talk. It only brought her pain.

"So," he asked, "what does this have to do with me?"

Xion took a deep breath. "We had a friend who didn't make it on the rescue ship. We thought both he and his mother died in the invasion. "

"Let me guess...his name was Riku."

"Yes. We thought you were dead but grampa assured us that your star was still shining, meaning that you were still alive. He said that whereever you went to when Twilight Town was destroyed you were safe. But we don't know how you left."

"But how do you know _I'm_ the Riku your looking for?"

"I told you, grampa can sense it."

"That's not enough proof for me."

Xion sighed and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a small folded piece of paper and put it in Riku's hands. He anxiously opened it and gasped at what he saw.

The piece of paper was a photo. Of him and Xion as children.

"Your mother took that picture." She smiled at the funny memory related to the photograph.

XXX

_Flashback_

_(10 years ago, Namine's 6th birthday)_

_"HAPPY BIRHTDAY NAMINE!"_

_Balloons flew everywhere as Namine' blew out the candles to her white frosting covered three layer birthday cake. Since there were a lot of kids, there had to be a lot of cake. Streamers were hung around the Sandlot to let everyone know of the princess' special day. The Sandlot was also where the party took place, since she didn't want anything too fancy. She was only six after all._

_"TODAY IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Well, even though she was only six to her it felt like sixteen. Eraqus put his niece down once the candles were out and she immediately ran to her presents._

_"Woah there!" Stella picked up her sister before she began ripping the present she picked up apart. "Cake first."_

_Namine' pouted. "Okay."_

_Like the kind girl she was, Namine asked her father to cut her friends cake first. Once everyone had their cake, Xion gave the boy she was sitting next to an evil smirk. _

_"CAKE FIGHT!" At that moment, she caked Riku in the face. _

_"Hey no fair!" He then proceded to throw his cake at Xion, but she ducked and it landed on Ventus instead. This initiated a cake throwing frenzy which the adults weren't able to stop. Kids laughed as vanilla icing splated on their faces. The birthday girl crawled under a clothed table to avoid the chaos. _

_"Riku! Xion!" shouted a woman gaining their attention away from the food battle. The silver haired woman laughed at their faces which were partially covered with whiteness. She held up a camera._

_"Say cheese!"_

_Riku and Xion immediately put an arm around each other. "CHEESE!"_

_End of Flashback_

XXX

This was all the proof he needed. There was long uncomfortable silence between the two before Riku spoke up.

"Was Kora my biological mother?"

"Yes. And she was a keyblade Master. That's why you wield the keyblade. You inherited it from her."

"But why did I get it so late?" Riku asked.

"Probably because of your amnesia. Since you didn't know who you were, your keyblade didn't know who you were either. Maybe Marluxia's attack triggered something."

Once again, uncomfortable silence.

"Riku, I had to see you again. We all missed you so much. So I used-"

"A location spell, I know. But your family's right. You put yourself in danger _just to find me_! That organization sounds deadly!"

"I KNOW!" Xion screamed. "AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN TO BRING YOU HOME!"

Riku jumped back. Xion's quick changes in mood were frightening him. _Man, she's really emotionally fragile. _Seeing how her outburst affected him, she quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry. You probably think I'm bipolar."

"No! Not at all. It's just...from what it sounds like, you've been through a lot. I can understand why you're so emotional."

She then gave him a small smile, "I'm not always emotional. The Hikari brothers are pretty good at making me laugh."

"Who?"

Xion stood up from the bed and stretched her arms. "You'll meet them later." She smiled wider when she looked at Riku's bright eyes and felt her cheeks turn warm. She immediately turned away to cover her blush. "I better go. We have a _long_ day tomorrow."

Riku facepalmed. _That's right, the chores._

"Um, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Xion waved at Riku as she walked out of the room. Once she closed the door he smiled. He was finally at the beginning steps of learning who he was.


	7. Old Friend

**Hallo! (German)**

_**Chapter 6: Old Friend **_

_**(OMG a chapter name with more than one word!)**_

It wasn't until Riku and Xion actually began cleaning that he saw how harsh the punishment was. Cleaning the castle was needless to say, exhausting. Cleaning one hallway took atleast an hour to do. After dusting of statues, wiping off fountains and vacuuming rugs, he was beat.

"Wow," Riku said, collapsing on a bench in one of the castle courtyards. He had just finished polishing a moogle fountain. "I..." he gasped for breath, "didn't know...this would be...so tiring."

"Don't worry," Xion smiled at him. "I'm sure we'll be finished by the end of the..." her smiled dropped when she realized how much left they had to do, "...year."

They both groaned but perked up at the sound of a familiar female voice.

"Paopu juice anyone?"

Stella stood about ten feet from them holding a silver tray in her hands. On the tray were two tall glasses filled with the yellow beverage.

"Thanks," the two teens said before finishing the drink in seconds. When Stella put the tray to her side Riku notice a rather large diamond ring on her left hand.

"You're engaged?"

"Oh! Yes, yes I am" Stella assured Riku. As she blushed at the thought of her fiancee', a tap on her shoulder from the said man brought her back to reality. "Hey what's going on here?"

"Hey Noct, what's up?" Xion waved. "Stella introduce him!"

"Oh um, sorry. Riku this Noctis Lucis Caelum, My fiancee'. You two have actually never met. "

"So, this is the famous Riku. Everyone's in town has been talking about you." Noctis then put an arm around Stella, which made her face even more red. "Your friends especially. They want to throw a party once they see you."

"Actually Noctis, thats not a good idea," Xion interrupted. "You remember what happened last ti-"

"Forget it." Noctis immediately rejected the idea of a party when he remembered his house almost going on fire because of a certain pyromaniac. He smiled at Stella and kissed her on the cheek, which turned her face into an even deeper crimson. She playfully shoved him off. "By the way Riku, some of your friends are here if you want to meet them."

He flinched, surprised. "Um sure, I'd like that."

"Riku don't worry." Xion put her hand on his shoulder. "I know this is kind of overwhelming but they're great people. I promise."

It seemed like Xion's smile was the only thing in this place that got him to really calm down so far. He melted on the inside when she smiled. _Wait...Come on Riku! Snap out of it!_

Riku snapped back to reality when he heard Noctis' voice.

"But right now, you guys have more cleaning to do." Riku and Xion groaned again.

"Well we'll see you two later" Stella waved as she and Noctis prepared to leave.

"Where are you guys off to?" Riku smirked.

"To be alone" Noctis answered as the two walked off, holding hands. Riku just stared at them in disbelief. Even though they were only in the courtyard a few minutes, he could tell the engaged couple were really close. He had never met two people so in love with one another.

"Riku, are you okay?" Xion asked, noticing his puzzled expression. He shook his head to collect himself.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Good," she smiled at him for the millionth time, "because I need you to go clean the Keyblade room." She shoved a bucket, mop, broom and sponge in his hands. "I'm gonna go clean the chapel. To get to the Keyblade room go through that gate-" she pointed to the silver gate at the front of the courtyard "-and turn left. The room should be on the fifth door to your left. Got it?"

"Um yeah, thanks Xion I'll see you later."

"See ya." The two then went their seperate ways.

XXX

Riku opened the door to the Keyblade room and got another surprise.

When Xion said 'Keyblade room', he thought it would just be room with a few keyblades. But his jaw was about to hit the floor with what he saw.

Hundreds of keyblades hung on the lavender walls surrounding him. They were each turned horizontally and had their names underneath them. Some of them were on stands sitting on shelves. In the center of the room was Terra, hugging what appeared to be a girl with blue hair.

Riku blushed. "Um...am I interrupting something?"

Aqua released Terra and gasped. Her already teary eyes filled with happiness. "OH MY GOSH! RIKU!"

Aqua ran up and hugged the silver hair teen, who began losing oxygen from how tightly she was hugging him. Terra noticed this and told Aqua to stop. She only squeezed Riku harder.

"Help me," Riku said in barely a wisper. His face began to turn blue.

"Aqua let him go! He can't breathe!"

She finally released him and wiped the tears off her face. "I'm sorry, it's just...oh my gosh I can't believe it's really you! Stella was right! You do look like your old self!"

"Uh...who are you?"

Aqua composed herself by taking deep breaths. Once she finally calmed down she wiped the remaining tears off her face. "That's right your amnesia. I guess I have to re-introduce myself. My name is Aqua. I used to be like a big sister to you."

"Uh nice to...meet you again Aqua."

She looked back at Terra with a worried look on her face. "Terra, is there any way Master Yensid can restore his memory? What about Namine'?"

"Not until we find out how he lost it" he replied, then gave Riku a smirk. "Let me guess, you need to clean the room."

"Uh yeah."

"I'll cut you some slack since your still kinda new here. You can just go ahead to the library. Besides-" He walked over to them and put his arm around Aqua, "-we kind of want some alone time."

Riku laughed. That's what he expected. "Okay, but before I go would you mind telling me why there are so many keyblades here?"

Terra and Aqua's smiles immediately disappeared from their faces, and tears began to form in Aqua's eyes again. She pulled Terra's arm off of her and walked over to a floral keyblade on the back wall. She picked it up and raised it above her head triumphantly. She sadly smiled at the keyblade, which her mother called Pixie Petal.

"These keyblades are those of the masters who fell during the invasion. Xehanort sent them here." She walked over to Riku and held out the keyblade to him. He dropped the cleaning materials and took the precious item in his hands. He couldn't believe how dead the weapon felt; it was light, hollow and powerless, unlike his keyblade which surged with magic.

"This was my mother's" Aqua hugged herself as a painful memory surged through her mind.

_(Flashback)_

_Radiant Garden: Town Square_

_8 years ago_

_Ten year old Aqua was picking flowers in the Town Square. She felt it was a well deserved reward for herself after cleaning so much all day. She looked at the surroundings of her new home and smiled. Her new home, Radiant Garden, couldn't have looked more beautiful. The castle, the fountains, the greenery and her favorite part: the flowers. _

_ Picking flowers was Aqua's favorite activity, next to playing with Terra of course. Before Twilight Town was destroyed, she and her mother Iris picked flowers every day. Next to being a keyblade master, Iris was also a florist and botanist. She had gotten Aqua interested in studying all kinds of flora, so the young girl grew up wanting to be like her beloved mother._

_ There were dozens of types of flowers in the Central Square; roses, lilies, daphadils, cornflower , poppies, chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, you name it. It was Aqua's favorite area in the whole world. She had already picked six daisies, and was going for her seventh when she felt a strong wind that pushed her to the ground. _

_ Other people in the area were also pushed around by the strong winds. It baffled everyone, since there were never any major changes in weather in their world. _

_ "What in the world?"_

_ "The hell is going on?"_

_ "HELP!"_

_ Out of nowhere, about thirty above Aqua, a dark portal began to form in midair. The young girl's eyes widened, fearing the worst. She then felt a strong pair of arms pick her up and carry her from the square. Once Aqua and her father, Amarylis, got far enough from the portal, they looked back at it in fear of what would come from it. _

_ In a microsecond, hundreds of keyblades flew out ot the dark corridor and surged through the air. They moved at lightning speed, breaking windows of people's house and slaming into walls. Citizens scrambled to safety by running into their houses to avoid being hit. After about five minutes of keyblades flying everywhere, they stopped in midair and fell to the ground._

_ People peeped out of their houses to see the weapons lying all over the ground. Amarylis and Aqua walked out from their hiding place to see the mess throughout the square. While Amarylis examined the broken windows and chipped roof tiles, Aqua walked over to a familiar item lying on one of the flower beds. As she got closer to the item her eyes began to water. Her mother's Pixie Petal keyblade reminded her of the desceased Iris and how much she missed her. _

_ Aqua picked up Pixie Petal by handle and began to cry. She was soon joined by others who picked up their own dead loved one's keyblades. Amarylis saw his daughter in pain and looked to the sky furious. Just when the people were starting to become happy again Xehanort had to slap them in the face with...'this'. _

_ Aqua hugged the keyblade tightly as if she were hugging her mother. She looked down at flower bed which Pixie Petal landed on. The daisies were all destroyed. Along with what was left of her childhood innocence._

_(End of Flashback)_

"Today was her birthday."

Riku stared at Aqua as she ran out of the room crying.

"Aqua wait!" Terra reached out his hand to stop his girlfriend from leaving, but she was too quick. He sighed and looked at Riku, who was dumbfounded by what just happened.

"I'm sorry. She's always emotional on this day. It was kind of a bad time for you to meet her." He rubbed his forehead with concern. "Um, like I said just go ahead to the library. Just go back to the lift stop, stop on the second floor and enter the Entrance Hall. The library will be on the door to your right."

"Thanks," Riku said as he gave Terra the Pixie Petal. "Tell Aqua it was nice to meet her. I actually did get a big sister vibe off of her."

The prince smirked as he began to walk out of the room. "That's good to hear. Who knows maybe by the time you meet all your friends you might get some of your memory back." By the time he was done with the sentence he had left the room.

After about another minute of examining the hundreds of keyblades, Riku gathered the cleaning supplies and headed off to the library.


	8. Preparations

Chapter 7: Preparations

"C'mon Van hurry up!"

"I _am_ hurrying! Shut up Sora!"

"Guys stop fighting. Do you want Riku to see you like this?"

In the castle's throne room, people were putting up decorations for Riku's surprise Welcome back party. Against better judgement, Eraqus decided to have a party for him to feel welcome in Radiant Garden. He gathered his pupils to help decorate the Entrance Hall and they began working. Kairi was responsible for hanging yellow and black streamers from the pillars while Namine blew up balloons. They had some of their school friends come by to help out. Selphie Tilmitt and Olette Allendell made plenty of Poupu juice as the latter's boyfriend Hayner Delton and their friend Pence Aeron were making snacks. Eraqus' older students Yuffie Kisaragi, Demyx Cordelia and his cousin Larxene Phoenix were making the 'WELCOME BACK RIKU' banners. Everything was going swiftly. Well, almost swiftly.

Sora, Ventus, and Vanitas Hikari were in charge of putting frosting on the cake. Sounds like an easy job right? Well when you have in three teenagers who have no idea how to boil water, let alone put frosting on a cake, you've got a problem.

Vanitas was sloppily squirting the icing on the top rim of the four layer vanilla cake (Riku's favorite flavor) as Sora was nagging him to speed up.

"Hey Sora, why don't _you_ come up here and put the icing on this stupid cake! I'd like to see you go faster!" The icing covered Van then climbed down the ladder and shoved the frosting tube in Sora's chest, squirting the brunette's jacket.

"Fine!" Sora shouted, "I'll show you just how good of a chef I am." With that, he snatched the tube from his ebony haired sibling and went up the ladder. Ven could only facepalm.

"You guys are actually fighting over frosting. I swear, when Riku shows up after he and Xion are done cleaning he's gonna think we're morons-"

"See Sora, not as easy as it looks huh?" Van interrupted, completely ignoring his blonde brother. Sora was failing miserably at making a frosting flower on the second highest layer. After hearing Van's comment, Sora turned around and squirted icing into his hair.

"Wow Sora really? " Ven commented on his brother's immaturity "You heard what the master said we have to get this done! We only- VAN DON'T!"

Too late. Vanitas picked up a pink (his least favorite color) cup of poupu juice off the table and splashed Sora in the face. But before the pissed off Sora could retaliate, they were interrupted by...

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU GUYS DO TO THE CAKE?"

Roxas. The shocked blonde walked up to the cake as if someone had destroyed a museum's priceless rare statue. "I leave you guys alone for ten minutes and you already ruin the cake?!"

Dumbfounded by Roxas' arrival, Sora and Vanitas just stared at him. Ven only shook his head as his way of saying "I told you so."

"You guys are rediculous! Move over, I'm fixing the cake. You guys set up the chairs or something." With that Roxas pulled Sora off the ladder and began fixing their mess. Unlike his brothers who couldn't cook for shit, Roxas was basically a young Gordon Ramsay. Sora and Van continued bickering as they walked over to the tables, and while following them Ven rubbed his temples from the headache he was getting.

Across the room, Larxene could only roll her eyes at the antics of the Hikari brothers.

"Fuckheads," she mumbled. She continued to nail her banner on the wall until she noticed a mistake.

_'Welcum Back Riku'_

The antenna hair woman snarled. **"DEMYX YOU IDIOT! YOU SPELLED 'WELCOME' WRONG!" **

** "BOO!"**

Larxene jumped, startled by her ninja friend who literally "poofed" behind her. "Yuffie what the hell?! You know I hate it when you do that!"

Yuffie only chuckled. "Yeah but it's funny, Hahahahahah! You should have seen your face!"

Larxene rolled her eyes again. "I swear Yuffie, you eat sugar for every meal don't you? Ugh. It's like everyone is trying to annoy me today. And speaking of more annoying people, when are you finally gonna get the guts to ask Mullethead out?"

The ninja froze. She felt her heart speed up and her cheeks turn crimson at the mention of her crush. She always acted like a giggly school girl when around Demyx, constantly having butterflies in her stomach. She was never shy around him, always in his face with a bright smile, but on the inside Yuffie was always afraid of him rejecting her. Not that he was perfect; Demyx was known for being a clumsy scaredy cat. Not to mention a bit of an airhead. But Yuffie didn't care. She began to slowly back away from Larxene when she bumped into the said '_boy of her dreams'. _

"Hey Yuffie."

She smiled when she heard his angelic voice. She turned around and gave Demyx a bone crushing hug.

"Hey Demy!"

Larxene smirked. It was hilarious how Yuffie was shy when her cousin _wasn't _around. The blonde's attention then shifted to the spikey red haired man next Demyx, her pyromaniac boyfriend Axel Scarlet.

Axel was...well there wasn't really a single word to describe him. Why he loved setting things on fire was a mystery to everyone. Noctis nearly put a restraining order on him when he almost set his house on fire. He's been best friends with Roxas since they were kids, despite their five year age difference. He was definately Eraqus' and Ansem's least favorite student due to his constant slacking off and disruptions. If it weren't for the fact that they were friends with Axel's mother, Dawn, they would have kicked him out of school years ago.

However despite his flaws, Axel was still a great friend. And should anyone say anything bad about his mom, brother or girlfriend in front of him, they would end up six feet under.

"Yo Larx, What up?"

"Oh you know, dealing with annoying quadruplets, hyperactive Yuffie, Demyx's idiocy. The usual," Larxene smirked.

"HEY! What do you mean 'idiocy'?" The blonde's cousin asked.

"Check for yourself Mullethead." Larxene then tossed the messed up banner at Demyx, who ended up being covered in it once it hit him. He began to stumble after being blinded, and then yelped when he tripped and fell on the floor. Yuffie giggled at her crush. Larxene and Axel only rolled their eyes.

"Anyone seen Vanitas? I have to go kill him," Axel said completely ignoring Demyx.

"He just left the room with icing in his hair. Why?" Yuffie answered curiously.

"Because he told Lea, who told Isa, who told Hayner, who told Kairi, who told Zack, who told me that I'm gay for Roxas."

Yuffie, Larxene, and Demyx (who finally got the banner off of him after taking days to get it off) laughed their asses off. The pyromaniac only scowled at his friends, until he saw a black haired woman with red eyes walking up behind them.

"What's going on here?"

The three young adults immediately stopped laughing when they heard the voice of Eraqus' assitant and former pupil, Tifa Lockhart.

Tifa was twenty-four, and a chick you did not want to mess with. While not a keyblade wielder, she was one of Eraqus' best students. She was strong, unflinching, a black belt in nine types of martial arts, and an expert in offensive magic spells. Eraqus was so impressed with her skills that he made her his personal assistant. She was also Stella's best friend.

"Guys, last time checked, decorating didn't include sitting on the floor."

"Hey calm down, Tif'. We _were_ working. We just got a little side tracked," Larxene smirked.

Tifa frowned at Larxene's nickname for her. "Well everyone else is done except for you guys, so you need to hurry up. And Axel, I thought you weren't supposed to be here."

"Geez Tifa, when did you stop being fun?" Yuffie asked while she began to do cartwheels.

"Besides, I'm not doing anything wrong" Axel slyly protested.

"Look I don't mean to be rude, but Terra sent Riku to the Library. Zexion said he would try to stall him for as long as he could before sending him in here. So come on guys, chop chop! "

Larxene groaned. "Fine. Come on Spikey." She then looked at Demyx and Yuffie, "We'll see you two love chocobos later." She and Axel flashed grins as they walked out to finish the remaining banners...and make out.

Tifa's frown turned into a smile at Larxene's comment, for she had no idea about Demyx and Yuffie. She then turned around and walked away abruptly to give the two privacy.

"Um, bye?" said a confused Demyx as he watch Tifa suddenly leave. He was completely unaware of what Larxene said, while the ninja flinched. Yuffie then helped Demyx to his feet while trying to hide her oncoming blush. Once he was fully up, Demyx was suprised to still see Yuffie holding his arm.

"Uh Yuffie, you can...um...let...go now."

"Oh! Sorry Demy!" She quickly let go, secretly wishing he hadn't noticed.

Once she did, the two locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Demyx's aqua eyes looked deep into Yuffie's chocolate ones. Each of their faces became crimson as a fimiliar memory came to both of their minds.

_(Flashback)_

_Twilight Town_

_10 years ago, Christmas Eve_

_ Ten year old Demyx tried to run as fast as he could to keep up with his hyperactive best friend. To make things even harder for him, the eight year old girl had__** extra sugary**__ cereal that morning which made her even more hyper than usual. Yuffie told Demyx that she wanted to show him a 'special place' and that it had to be 'ASAP'. As they ran through Twilight Town Demyx begged for Yuffie to slow her pace._

_ "Come on Yuffie, slow down!"_

_ "You're just being a slowpoke! Hurry up!"_

_ The two approached a hole in the town's wall which lead to a forest. They then dodged the trees through the thick forest as if they were in a crowd of people. It was when they reached the edge of the forest that Yuffie finally stopped. Demyx tried to catch his breath._

_ "Finally! I was thinking we were never gonna-"_

_ "WE'RE HERE DEMY!" _

_ "Wha-What?"_

_ Yuffie pointed to a large black gate. Behind that was a large orange colored building. _

_ "It's a castle Demy! We have a castle outside our town! I wonder who lives here..." Yuffie then walked in the grassy clearing in front of the black gate, wanting a closer look. Demyx however, only coward at the sight before him. Despite his fear, he ran up to catch up with the eight year old._

_ "Yuffie th-that's not a castle, it's a mansion. Castles are bigger. And I've heard rumors that there's a ghost there. Can we go now?"_

_ "A haunted mansion? That's way better than a castle! Come on!"_

_ Demyx facepalmed. He wasn't getting out of this. And he didn't want to leave Yuffie alone. He timidly followed her. _

_ Unfortunately for Yuffie, the mansion gate was locked._

_ "Awwwe. No fair! I wanted to explore the mansion!"_

_ "Oh well, lets go home," said the relieved ten year old. The raven haired girl then turned around to look at her best friend._

_ "Demyx, if you didn't want to come with me in here you didn't have to."_

_ "And let you go in by yourself? No way! I-I want to make sure you're safe."_

_ The little ninja smiled and grabbed her friend in a tight hug. "Awe Demy! You're so sweet!" _

_ Unknown to either of them, they were both blushing, and happy that they couldn't see each other's faces. Yuffie finally let go of Demyx's waist, and then held his hand. _

_ "Come on, let's go get get some Sea-Salt ice cream." And with that, the children ran back to town. _

_ (End of Flashback)_

"AXEL WHAT THE FUCK?"

The two young adults were brought out of their trance by the sound of Vanitas getting splashed with Poapu juice by Axel.

"CALL ME GAY ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

While Van's brothers tried to stop the on coming fist fight, Yuffie only looked at the ground, hiding her red face.

"I...should go now."

" 'Kay. Bye Yuffie." Demyx meekly waved.

"B-Bye." And with that she ran off.

Demyx watched the ninja as she ran out of the room. He sighed, immediately missing her presence. _Damn, why can't I just tell her? I've loved her for so long._

He thought it best to just put the thought out of his mind. Ignoring the fighting on the other side of the room, he picked up the banner that his cousin threw at him and looked at it quizically.

"I don't see what's wrong with this thing. Larxene was obviously lying."


End file.
